In general, current technology enables a respective operator of a communication device such as a cell phone to communicate over different type of wireless networks. For example, a respective mobile communication device such as a cellular phone, tablet computer, etc., can include a first RF (Radio Frequency) interface supporting cellular phone connectivity and a second RF interface to support WiFi™ connectivity. The operator of the communication device can manually select amongst the different available communication modes to wirelessly communicate with a target device.
As an example, an operator of a respective communication device can choose to initially communicate over a cellular phone link using the first RF interface. In such a mode, the operator can dial a phone number to make a phone call. As an alternative to voice communications, if desired, the user of the communication device can execute a browser application and use the cellular phone link to retrieve content over a respective data link from one or more different remote servers. Thus, in certain instances, a cellular phone link can be used to retrieve content over a network such as the Internet.
Typically, cellular phone links support long-range communications such as distances greater than 1 mile. In general, because cellular phone links support such long-range communications, the communication device is more likely to be able to connect to the Internet and retrieve content regardless of the location of the communication device in a geographical region.
As mentioned above, a respective communication device can also include an RF interface to communicate over a WiFi™ communication link. As an alternative to using a cellular phone link, if a WiFi™ access point is available in the region in which the communication device resides, the operator of the respective communication device can establish a WiFi™ communication link to retrieve content from one or more remote servers in a network as an alternative to retrieving content over a cellular phone link. Typically, in an outdoor environment, WiFi™ supports only short-range communications such as distances less than a few hundred feet. Indoors, WiFi™ supports a substantially shorter range of connectivity.
Because it is typically more expensive to communicate with a target device such as a remote server using a cellular phone communication link than a WiFi™ communication link, if available, a respective operator usually will typically prefer to communicate over a respective WiFi™ communication link as opposed to communicating over a cellular phone communication link.